SPACE OF FLOWS: FRAMING AN UNSEEN REALITY (Documentation)
August 21, 2018 § Leave a comment
Data & Power (Panel, Krakow, May 2018)
‘Featuring an international slate of artists, the festival focuses on the ceaseless flow of people, information, and substances, through expanding urban areas, the virtual realm of cyberspace, and endangered natural landscapes. In the face of worldwide streams of refugees and migrants, an overload of manipulable digital information, and injurious amounts of harmful particles suspended in the atmosphere and discharged into waterways, those in power look the other way. And all the while they withdraw and intensify control to protect what they have. Short-term success is favoured over having a sustained vision of the future’ Iris Sikking, Curator Krakow Photomonth 2018
Extracts from THE MARKET (2010-) /RYNEK (2010-)(installation at the Szara Kamienica Gallery)
Installation comprised Photographs, Powerpoint Presentation, Transcripts of Verbal Testimony, A4 Colour Photograph/Text Pamphlet, Film & 3D Data Visualisation.Algorithm & Soundscape composition Ken Curran / Data Visualisation Damien Byrne.
The project was installed alongside excellent projects by Susan Schuppli, Axel Braun & Eline Benjaminsen.
As part of the official programme, a panel titled, Data & Power took place on Saturday, May 26th at Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art. Participants were Iris Sikking, Dominik Skokowski, Eline Benjaminsen, Mark Curran, Esther Hovers, Clément Lambelet, Rune Peitersen, Salvatore Vitale and was moderated by Alicja Peszkowska. To a full house the event went overtime due to audience responses and discussion. It was documented and available below.
‘A more perfect reminder of exactly how on-time and urgent these artists and their projects are, considering our connected world, even the very ground we walk upon. These stories remain resident in my consciousness and now alert me at odd moments to pay attention, to observe my own special omens’ From review by Christiane Monarchi on Photomonitor.co.uk available here.
Thank you to Iris Sikking for her generous invitation and to Aga Dwernicka, Joanna Gorlach, Karolina Leśniak, Marcin & Małgo and team in Krakow for all their hard work.
THE MARKET has been curated by Helen Carey (Director, Firestation Artists’ Studios) and supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, NEPN (University of Sunderland, UK), Noorderlicht (Netherlands), Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT), Gallery of Photography (Dublin), Belfast Exposed & Culture Ireland.
SPECTACLE & SCAFFOLDING (USA)
January 4, 2018 § Leave a comment
‘Spectacle & Scaffolding: Contemporary Photography Muses Hierarchy features the works of contemporary photographic artists who explore the underlying power structures that we live with and participate in daily, but which often seem invisible’
The exhibition at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA includes projects by Greta Pratt, Trevor Paglen, Mark Curran and elin o’Hara and is curated by Ann Pegelow Kaplan. Excerpts from THE MARKET include photographs, transcripts, film and Powerpoint presentation.
The exhibition runs from October 7th, 2017 until January 6th, 2018.
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
Appalachian State University
North Carolina
USA
(Installation photographs courtesy of TCVA)
Installation THE MARKET Le Bleu du Ciel, Lyon
October 19, 2017 § 3 Comments
Credit Suisse (Access denied)
Canary Wharf
London England
March 2013 (left)
Anthony, Analyst (negotiation 1.5 years)
The City
London, England
May 2013 (right)
‘In the evolutionary aftermath of the global economic collapse and absence of sustained audio-visual engagement with the central locus of this catastrophic event, the ongoing multi-media transnational project, THE MARKET (2010-), critically addresses the functioning and condition of the global markets and the role of financial capital. It is the continuation of a cycle of long-term projects, beginning in the late 1990s, focused on the predatory context resulting from migrations of global capital.
Bethlehem, Trader (negotiation 1.5 years)
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
September 2012
The Viewing Gallery
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
September, 2012
(Single channel HD digital video, silent, looped 9’’)
James, Operations Manager (negotiation 1 year)
Irish Stock Exchange (ISE)
Dublin, Ireland
April 2012
Transcripts (Dublin, London, Addis Abeba)
‘Having undertaken an extensive process of negotiation, averaging 1.5-2 years, to access strategic sites/individuals, the ethnographically-informed project incorporates photographs, film, soundscape, artifactual material, 3D data visualisation & transcripts of verbal testimony. Taking the sphere out of abstraction & positioning it as a pervasive force central to our lives, themes include algorithmic machinery of financial markets, central innovator of this technology, absorption of crises as normalisation of deviance & long range mapping & consequences of financial activity distanced from citizens & everyday life. Profiles include traders, bankers & financial analysts & documentation from London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam & Addis Abeba’
Transcripts (Detail)(Dublin, London, Addis Abeba)
Algorithmic Surrealism 2015
Landscaped Park (International Investment Bank)
Zuidas Global Financial District
Amsterdam, Netherlands
(Single channel HD digital video, colour, sound/voiceover 11’04’’)
The installation includes the film, Algorithmic Surrealism (follow link for excerpt) made in the new financial district of Zuidas (Amsterdam), global centre for algorithmic trading & shadow banking, while the voiceover of the film is adapted from a text by former trader, Brett Scott. Forecasted that there will be no human traders within a decade, the film suggests the hegemony of High Frequency Trading (HFT) and extinction of human reason – including empathy and ethics – will perpetuate the power relations of minority wealth in globalised capitalist systems.
Financial Surrealism/Systemic Risk
Colour A4 image and text – Shadowbanking
Artifacts & Correspondence regarding process to secure access to Deutsche Börse AG, Frankfurt/Eschborn 2012 including Letter requesting access to Deutsche Börse AG
from the Irish Ambassador to Germany, Berlin, Germany, November 2011
(accessd denied)
Framed emails/ Vitrine
Artifacts & Correspondence regarding process to secure access to Deutsche Börse AG, Frankfurt/Eschborn 2012 (accessd denied)
Artifacts & Correspondence regarding process to secure access to Deutsche Börse AG, Frankfurt/Eschborn 2012 (accessd denied)
(detail)
Deutsche Börse II (Acess denied)
Eschborn (near Frankfurt)
Germany
March 2012
The Television Studio
Selected Reports from German Television (2012 – 2013) from Frankfurt Börse (Stock Exchange)
(described in the vernacular by Deutsche Börse AG (owners) as ‘The Television Studio’)
Frankfurt, Germany
Digital Video, Silent, Looped (28 minutes)
Taika, External Relations Associate (negotiation 1.5 years)
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
September 2012
Matthew, Banker (negotiation 2 years)
Canary Wharf
London, England
March 2013
Poster/Text
JP Morgan (formerly Lehman Brothers)(Access denied)
Canary Wharf
London, England
February 2013
‘Titled the Normalisation of Deviance, through the application of an algorithm identifying the words market and/or markets in public speeches by relevant national Ministers of Finance, the data is then transformed to create the installation soundscape. For Le Bleu du Ciel, the algorithmic translation of the former minister, Pierre Moscovici is presented. To date, those of Michael Noonan (Ireland), George Osborne (UK) and Jeroen Dijsselbloem (Netherlands & Eurozone Group President) have also been included in exhibitions in those countries – to represent contemporary financial capital functioning through the conduit of the now financialised nation state”
Financial District, Lyon
(Window, main gallery space)
The installation is part of the year-long programme, Suite-Nouveau Documentaire by Gilles Verneret, Director, Le Bleu du Ciel and part of official programme Resonance de la Biennale de Lyon 2017. Participation has been generously supported by Culture Ireland.
Exhibition from September 28 – November 25, 2017.
The project has been curated by Helen Carey (Director, Firestation Artists’ Studios) and supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, NEPN (University of Sunderland, UK), Noorderlicht (Netherlands), Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT), Gallery of Photography, Belfast Exposed & Culture Ireland.
Algorithm & Sound Composition Ken Curran
Full information here.
THE MARKET/ Le Bleu du Ciel / Lyon
September 27, 2017 § 1 Comment
THE MARKET – Installation
Le Bleu du Ciel
12, rue des fantasques, 69001 Lyon
FRANCE
September 28 – November 25
Official programme of Resonance de la Biennale de Lyon 2017.
‘In the evolutionary aftermath of the global economic collapse and absence of sustained audio-visual engagement with the central locus of this catastrophic event, the ongoing multi-media transnational project, THE MARKET (2010-), critically addresses the functioning and condition of the global markets and the role of financial capital. It is the continuation of a cycle of long-term projects, beginning in the late 1990s, focused on the predatory context resulting from migrations of global capital. Having undertaken an extensive process of negotiation, averaging 1.5-2 years, to access strategic sites/individuals, the ethnographically-informed project incorporates photographs, film, soundscape, artifactual material, 3D data visualisation & transcripts of verbal testimony. Taking the sphere out of abstraction & positioning it as a pervasive force central to our lives, themes include algorithmic machinery of financial markets, central innovator of this technology, absorption of crises as normalisation of deviance & long range mapping & consequences of financial activity distanced from citizens & everyday life. Profiles include traders, bankers & financial analysts & documentation from London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam & Addis Abeba’
The installation is part of the year-long programme, Suite-Nouveau Documentaire by Gilles Verneret, Director, Le Bleu du Ciel.
Full information/Dossier de Presse available here.
Participation has been generously supported by Culture Ireland
THE MARKET is curated by Helen Carey and has been supported by Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, NEPN (University of Sunderland, UK), Noorderlicht (Netherlands), Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT), Gallery of Photography (Dublin), Belfast Exposed, Limerick City Gallery of Art & Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris).
MUSEUM OF CAPITALISM (USA)
June 16, 2017 § Leave a comment
‘A Museum of Capitalism* is opening this June in Oakland, California. The museum will be the first of its kind in the United States remembering the historic era of capitalism, dedicated to “educating future generations about the ideology, history, and legacy of capitalism”. Through multimedia exhibits created by a diverse network of artists, scholars, and ordinary citizens, the museum’s opening exhibition will explore the historical phenomenon of capitalism and its intersections with themes including race, class, and the environment. Representing the collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary team of curators, historians, artists, and designers, the museum’s inaugural exhibition will feature several multimedia exhibits and experiences created by some of today’s most dynamic artists.
Opening on Saturday, June 17th at 6pm. More information on events and ongoing programming here. The exhibition continues until August 20th, 2017.
The Museum of Capitalism is curated by Andrea Steves & Timothy Furstnau (FICTILIS) and includes work by Alexander Rose, Art for a Democratic Society, Ben Bigelow, Bureau d’Etudes, Chip Lord, Dread Scott, Igor Vamos, Jennifer Dalton, Jenny Odell, Jordan Bennett, Kambui Olujimi, Kate Haug, Marisa Jahn, Mark Curran, Michelle de la Vega, Oliver Ressler, Patricia Reed, Rimini Protokoll, Sharon Daniel, Superflex, Tim Portlock and Valeria Mogilevich amongst others.
The exhibition will also include a library where visitors can browse several collections and learn more about the exhibits, as well as a recreation of an early-21st Century museum gift shop. Artifacts of capitalism, donated and loaned from citizens across the country, will be on display alongside the exhibits.
The accompanying publication by Inventory Press will include work by all the artists and written contributions by Lucy Lippard, TJ Demos and Chantal Mouffe amongst others. Full details here.
*Exhibition includes (extracts from) THE MARKET comprising photographs, transcripts, sculpture. Participation by Mark Curran has been generously supported by Culture Ireland
NOORDERLICHT 2015 Installation
September 2, 2015 § Leave a comment
Central location of
#DataRush & #Pulse exhibitions of NOORDERLICHT 2015.
The Sugar Factory
Groningen, the Netherlands
Dossier extracts from THE MARKET (2010 – )
Systemic Risk (Shadow Banking)(detail) (A4 Inkjet prints, text on reverse outlines pivotal role of Netherlands, Luxembourg & Ireland in global shadow banking system) Zuidas Global Financial District Amsterdam, Netherlands 2015
Right: Financial Surrrealism (WTC) Zuidas Financial District Amsterdam, Netherlands 2015 Left: Systemic Risk (Shadow Banking) Zuidas Global Financial District Amsterdam, Netherlands 2015
Algorithmic Surrealism 2015 (Single channel HD digital video, colour, sound/voiceover, 11’) Zuidas Global Financial District Amsterdam, Netherlands script adapted from essay by former Trader & Financial Activist, Brett Scott
The Economy of Appearances 2015 (Single channel HD digital generation, sound, 5’ 30’’) 3D Data Visualisation of the algorithmically-generated soundscape identifying the application of the words market and/or markets in the public speeches by Dutch Minister of Finance & President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem Algorithm Design & Sound Composition by Ken Curran Data Visualisation by Damien Byrne
‘Activating the popular graphic representation of such circumstance through a 3D visualisation of the algorithmically-generated soundscape—The Economy Of Appearances—to represent contemporary financial capital functioning through the conduit of the financialised nation state’ Helen Carey
#DataRush continues at The Sugar Factory, Groningen until 11 October
Thanks to Wim Melis, Ype Van Gorkum, Hester Keijser, Maria, Henne, Shahin and all the Noorderlicht team and to Amanda Ritson and NEPN, University of Sunderland for their generous support.
Full details of NOORDERLICHT 2015 available here.
THE MARKET 